DentaQuest, a part of Sun Life U.S., has announced a donation of $45,000 to two nonprofit organizations in the Los Angeles area focused on improving oral health among school-age children. The recipients, GeriSmiles Dental Health Foundation and The Los Angeles Trust for Children's Health (The L.A. Trust), aim to enhance access to dental care and education in underserved communities.
GeriSmiles will receive $30,000 to expand its Mobile Dental Hygiene Practice. This initiative provides oral health and nutrition education along with dentistry services to uninsured residents. Last year, it reached over 60,000 students across several school districts including Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino. New locations such as Blythe, Trona, and Needles are also set to benefit from this expansion.
The L.A. Trust is allocated $15,000 to improve oral health education for parents and caregivers by integrating information on nutrition and diabetes. These sessions will be piloted at eight elementary schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), focusing primarily on South Los Angeles communities. Bilingual sessions aim to dispel common oral health myths among LAUSD's large Spanish-speaking population.
"By supporting these local efforts, DentaQuest can extend oral health access beyond the members we serve via trusted community organizations that are best positioned to meet specific community needs," said David Healy, president of Dental at Sun Life U.S.
Earlier this year, DentaQuest contributed $80,000 to various grassroots organizations throughout California working towards similar goals in oral health education and access. Additionally, The L.A. Trust received a separate $5,000 donation recognizing Executive Director Maryjane Puffer as a 2024 DentaQuest Health Access Hero.
These initiatives align with DentaQuest's mission of overcoming barriers like transportation and language that hinder dental care access. With newly awarded dental managed care contracts in Los Angeles and Sacramento set to go live soon, Sun Life U.S.'s family of companies will serve nearly half a million Californians.